DEPARTMENT OF CONSERVATION ASSISTANCE
BOLSTERS BOTTLE AND CAN RECYCLING
PROJECTS

SACRAMENTO -- As part
of an ongoing effort to increase bottle
and can recycling opportunities for
Californians, the California Department
of Conservation has partnered with
various local organizations to begin or
expand 19 recycling projects in the
state.

Schools, colleges,
parks, conservation groups, youth job
programs, and local community and
government entities will combine DOC
grants with their own funding to step up
collection and recycling of California
Refund Value (CRV) bottles and cans. DOC
recycling grants are paid for with
unclaimed refunds of CRV beverage
containers, and are awarded at no cost
to the state's general fund.

More than 18.5
billion CRV bottles and cans are sold in
California annually, but only about 60
percent of them are currently being
recycled. That leaves nearly eight
billion bottles and cans  representing
about $300 million in CRV as well as
energy savings and valuable raw
materials  ending up in the trash
instead of the recycling bin each year.

"Most of us are good
recyclers at home, but we dont always
have the opportunity to be good
recyclers at school, at the office or
during our leisure activities, DOC
Director Darryl Young said. These local
projects will reach busy Californians at
a variety of places where they are
likely to consume bottles of water, cans
of soda and other drinks. These grants
will help make recycling not only the
right thing to do, but the easy thing to
do.

The winning grant
proposals were selected through a
competitive scoring process from among
47 applicants. The largest grant,
$158,423, will go toward the purchase,
installation and servicing of 147
bear-proof collection bins for CRV
bottles

and cans in Lassen
Volcanic National Park. The smallest
grant, $3,833, was awarded to the Palos
Verdes High School Environment Club to
implement a self-sustaining recycling
program on campus.

Associated Students
Recycling Center, California State
University-Long Beach (Los Angeles
County): Establish Think Before You
Throw project to encourage people to
recycle CRV beverage containers in
high-traffic campus locations, make
recycling available at special events
on campus and raise awareness through
student competitions. $11,738. Local
contact: Brigette Young (562)
985-2402.

California State
Parks Foundation (Marin County):
Install new recycling bin clusters at
high-traffic California state parks
and beaches as part of the California
State Parks Foundations annual Earth
Day Restoration and Clean-up program.
$50,000. Contact: Erika Pringsheim-Moore
(925) 284-5069.

City College of San
Francisco (San Francisco County):
Expand CRV beverage container
recycling program on seven campuses to
include offices, classrooms and at
special events on main Ocean Avenue
campus. $108,399. Local contact:
Kelley Karandjeff (415) 239-3013.

City of Arvin (Kern
County): Establish a curbside
recycling program where none now
exists. $98,724. Local contact:
Enrique Ochoa (661) 854-3134.

City of Burbank
Recycle Center (Los Angeles County):
Develop a recycling corps at five
local middle and high schools that
will place recycling bins, collect
bottles and cans and track their
results. $14,498. Local contact:
Hampel Kreigh (818) 238-3900.

City of Citrus
Heights (Sacramento County): Partner
with the local park district and the
Sacramento Local Conservation Corps to
build recycling bins and collect
beverage containers in 13 city parks.
$50,428. Local contact: David Wheaton
(916) 727-4770.

City of Oxnard
(Ventura County): Develop a public
area recycling program for special
events and large business break rooms.
$69,727. Local contact: Barbara Wulf
(805) 385-8012.

City of Selma
(Fresno County): Expand the number of
recycling bins in high-traffic public
locations throughout Selma and create
awareness through advertisements,
community event booths and an art
contest in schools. $16,698. Local
contact: Roseann Galvan (559)
896-1064.

Town of Truckee
(Nevada County): Procure recycling
receptacles for use at special events
within the Town of Truckee. $5,000.
Local contact: Alex Terrazas (530)
582-7700.

UC Irvine
Facilities Management (Orange County):
Increase beverage container recycling
on campus by increasing the number of
recycling bin clusters and time spent
collecting and processing bottles and
cans, and promote recycling education
on campus. $32,928. Local contact:
Robert Rice (949) 824-9341.

In addition to
promoting the state's beverage container
recycling program, the Department of
Conservation administers programs to
safeguard agricultural and open-space
land; regulates oil, gas and geothermal
wells in the state; studies and maps
earthquakes, landslides and mineral
resources; and ensures reclamation of
land used for mining.